Another question: Is White Elephant the same thing as Dirty Santa? I just saw the other post about Dirty Santa Gift Ideas.

At least we'll get some good ideas. I know the KT is full of great ideas.

I think it is the same thing.

Gayle

I think a white elephant gift is a recycled gift, something you just have laying around the house that you have no use for.

ORIGINALLY A White Elepant taken to a party was something that you had around the house that you really disliked and would like to get rid of. Could have been a gift that didn't match your decor or style, unusable, wrong size, etc. , or you just didn't use anymore. Value was not a concern. It was NOT something you went out and bought just for that purpose.

Like a lot of things, the concept has taken some turns and twists. It may depend on what is considered WE in your area.

Little story: Many, many years ago, a group I belonged to had a party and we were asked to bring a WE. There was a young lady in the group who was a war bride (told you it was a long time ago) from France. She didn't come to the party, and when she was asked why, she said she had looked everywhere for a White Elephant and couldn't find one, so she didn't want to come. Failure to communicate on our part.

Sue

That's what I consider a white elephant too, we have a white elephant auction at our family reunions, recycled stuff in search of a new home. It's kind of funny to see how many of our Christmas Eve exchange gifts show up!

If he doesn't have something to recycle and regift, he can shop any thrift store for something that'll be perfect as a White Elephant or joke gift.

Years ago, I attended a WE auction, and bought a 'dry fry' skillet. I haven't used it yet, but wouldn't part with it b4 I really see what it will do. It is supposed to 'bake' potatoes in it on top of the range.

Possibly you might have a kitchen gadget that just never caught on with you?

Sue...who has several never used gadgets

We're doing the WE at our whole family Christmas get together. I'm taking a small dry erase calendar that sticks to your refrig. with magnets. I don't like the fact that you can't flip the page into next month when appointments come up, or your making them. So, it's outta here.
Leslie

We've done this in our office for several years [there's only 4-5 of us involved.] I've got everything from truly hiddous holiday decor -- any season-- a lovely tray that was only used once at a wedding [I have several candles on it] - but someone mentioned kitchen gagets -- remember the hot dog cooker? Well it's back as a toaster look-a-like for 2 buns & 2 hotdogs

LMBO @ sue_va's story!

:-)

The phrase White Elephant comes from old India where white elephants were sacred and couldn't be used for work. Opposing nations would give a "white elephant" as a snub because they had to feed, water, and house them without getting anything beneficial out of the elephant.

We use it to mean "something useless you have around the house".

But, I have often found that now-a-days people use that term interchangeably with "gift for a gift exchange" and get mad if you give something used, which in essence, is what a white elephant is all about.

My recommendation is for your son to verify if it is to be a "used white elephant" or a ("new gift exchange gift" with a set spending limit. Sometimes the white elephants are more fun because there are some really neat old things that people have around the house.

This is from Wikipedia (I was wrong about the country):

White elephant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A white elephant is a supposedly valuable possession whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness, and it is therefore a liability. The term derives from the sacred white elephants kept by traditional Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. To possess a white elephant was regarded (and still is regarded, in Thailand and Burma) as a sign that the monarch was ruling with justice and the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity. The tradition derives from tales in the scriptures which associate a white elephant with the birth of Buddha. Because the animals were considered sacred and laws protected them from labor, receiving a "gift" of a white elephant from a monarch was both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because of the animalÂs sacred nature and a curse because the animal could be put to no practical use.

Maybe this definition from Wikipedia might help Jen.

White elephant gift exchange
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (December 2006)

The white elephant gift exchange (also called Yankee Swap, Scottish Gift Exchange, Thieving Secret Santa, Nasty Christmas[1], Chinese Gift Exchange, or Thieving Elves) is a popular party game usually played during the Christmas season in the United States. The premise of the game is that each guest contributes one gift to the game, and ultimately each guest walks away with one different gift from the game. The type of gift is sometimes decided ahead of time (eg. "something less than $10," "a used item from home," "a gag gift," etc.).

[edit] Gameplay
Initially, all of the wrapped gifts are placed onto a gift pile. The gifts are not labeled whom they are from, nor do they list a recipient.

Everyone chooses a number from a bowl, this determines the order of gift choosing.

The first person chooses a gift from the gift pile, opens the gift for all to see, and keeps it for the time being. Person #2 can either choose to take an unopened gift from the gift pile or steal a gift from any previous gift-opener. If an unopened gift is selected, the gift must be unwrapped. If at any time a person's gift is stolen, that person can immediately unwrap a new gift or steal another person's gift. This process repeats until a gift reaches "dead" status (see below) or until a person chooses to unwrap a new gift (as opposed to stealing a gift), at which point play proceeds to the next person. After all turns have been taken, the person who went first has the option of taking one more turn since this person had the disadvantage of not knowing what any of the now-opened presents were at the beginning of play.

Owners of opened gifts must keep them visible for all to see and hold them up when requested.

Optional Rules:

Dead Gift: A gift is "dead" after it has been stolen three times. A "dead" gift may no longer be stolen.

In another variant, each player unwraps a new gift before choosing whether or not to keep it or swap it for one already opened.

In a variant based in parts of central New Jersey, the gift is wrapped inside-out, so that the printed part of the wrapping paper is not visible to the recipient. The back of the wrapping paper, which is typically white, is what gives the gift the term "white elephant."

One of the funniest "White Elephant" gifts I have ever seen was a HUGE can of fruit cocktail. Instutional size.

This was one of those parties where you could select a wrapped gift - or choose what someone else had already opened (gosh those are fun!) and you wouldn't believe how many people wanted that can of fruit cocktail, LOL!

Thank you all for your wonderful responses. I never knew that White Elephant was something from around the house. I agree with you Naughtykitty....he's going to ask the other seasoned workers what the "usual" is because now we're both confused! lol

He did like the lottery ticket idea from the Dirty Santa thread but that's not something he'd have laying around the house unused! We'll see what he comes up with after he talks to his co-workers.

Thanks again for all the info!

We did a bridal shower of "white elephant" gifts, because I just thought since we were having a "office gift" for the bride to be it would be fun to have a whole bunch of gifts... to open.

I set the limit to anything useless in the kitchen, in the junk drawer that you really have not used or touched in the last year. The gifts were AMAZING!! We all had some odd gadget that was useless to us, and hilarious for everyone else to figure out!

*Oh no names were attached and we had a form to "guess" the giver of the gift! Funniest one was a cherry pitter... no one but the original owner knew what it was...and it looked like something from medieval times to torture something with?

I would definately ask if it was to be new or used.... ours were all used...somewhat and that made if funnier!
Good Luck
Rosie

I have seen really awful, funny stuff at WE gift exchanges. One I always remember was a decorated Christmas candle in a jar that was tastelessly coated with green sequins and lots of other gawdy stuff. I also remember giving an appliqued vest from India to a WE party and everyone wanted it--wasn't my taste. I also gave two candles that were like blue mounds scented with peppermint--they resembled two huge, blue boobs, and everyone got a good laugh from them. They had been sold as Christmas candles.